While animal activists have documented the cruelty meted out to animals and the courts point to animal rights under Indian law, those promoting these animal sports, some of which are being played for centuries, insist they helped preserve some of the Indian breeds, which have been driven to the brink of extinction.
Animal rights activists and organisations, including PETA (People for Ethical Treatnent of Animals), have opined that sport involving animals is cruel as they are goaded to perform. Animals being raced, including bulls and bullocks, are whipped to get them to run fast. Those pitted against each other often fight to the finish. What kind of sports are these in this age of technology, the animal lovers wonder. What emerged from this entire debate was that animals became the talking point. The big question now is how far will animals become part of festivities? How long one will animals be used to showcase emotions? What about the emotion of animals? Jallikattu is just such festival sport, but there are many such festivals in India, leave alone the world, where animals are used as a pawn. While some activists call for a total ban, others insist regulation is the way to go and ensure no cruelty is meted out.
Hoards of festivals
Jallikattu, celebrated across Tamil Nadu on the second day of Pongal, was described as "Yeru thazhuvuthal", which means embracing the bull. The word, Jallikattu comes from salli or jalli (coins) and kattu (bag), which refers a bag of coins, which was tied to the bull's horns and the winner had to retrieve. It has been part of their tradition and culture, and celebrated across the state on the second day of Pongal.
What was traditionally full of fun and gaiety, has now turned into a big-money sport. Bulls are specially trained and as they balk at the sight of a cheering crowd, are goaded to run. Animal activists have recorded instances of forcing alcohol down the throat of the animal, chilli powder rubbed into its eyes and tail twisted or even bitten.
What many people may not realise is that almost every Indian state has some or the other festival, where animals are part of celebrations. Listed here are some of the major ones:
Cart race
Kambala is a buffalo race, very popular in South Karnataka. In this two buffaloes are tied to a plough and raced as a team across paddy fields filled with slush and mud. Traditionally a non-competitive race, the Kambala season starts in November and lasts until March and is held annually in coastal Karnataka as well as parts of Kerala. The use of whips to race the buffaloes has been criticised. With the Supreme Court in 2014 banning use of bulls and buffaloes as performing animals, this sport too came under the scan. The state high court on 18 November, 2016, passed an interim stay order stopping all Kambala events in the state.
This blood sport was also highlighted over the last few months as it is mainly indulged in during Sankranti festival in Andhra Pradesh. Stakes run into hundreds of crores of rupees as two roosters lash out at each other. Sharp blades are tied to the legs and it usually ends with the vanquished getting killed.
India has one of the toughest animals rights laws in the world. The Animal Welfare Board of India have listed out certain dos and donts to ensure the rights of animals. Under article 51A (g) it is the Fundamental Duty of every citizen to have compassion for all living creatures. To kill or maim any animal, including stray animals, is a punishable offence. Abandoning any animal for any reason can land one in prison for up to three months. Neglecting an animal is punishable by a fine or imprisonment of up to three months or both.
Monkeys, bears, tigers, panthers, lions and bulls are prohibited from being trained and are protected under the Wildlife Law and cannot be displayed or owned or used for entertainment purposes. Animal sacrifice is illegal in every part of the country.
Fighting for animals rights is not new in the country. It has been done for years by different organisation like PETA, PFA (People for Animals) run by Maneka Gandhi, FIAPO and many others. At times, court also played a vital role. For instance, the Jallikattu verdict by Supreme Court in 2014, disallowing bulls to be allowed as performing animals. The court has also asked Parliament to give more teeth to the animal right rules. "Elevate rights of animals to that of Constitutional rights, as done by many of the countries around the world, so as to protect their dignity and honour," the court has said.
A member of PETA said in an e-mail interaction, "PETA India's motto is, in part, that animals are not ours to use for entertainment. That's because animals, like humans, have the capacity to feel pain and do not want to suffer, and it is our moral duty not to cause them harm. Animals are not willing participants in spectacles like jallikattu, elephant processions and rides and so on and so violence is used to force them to take part."
Jallikattu events from panicked bulls trying to flee, the PETA activist said, "With changing times, culture and tradition must evolve to ensure no animals or humans are harmed. Animals are not natural or willing performers or participants in these spectacles: they are forced to perform un-natural tricks and actions through the use of violence."
According to figures compiled by the Heritage Animal Task Force, captive elephants have killed more than 526 people in Kerala within a span of 15 years alone.
The anti-ban argument to allow this festival to take place is employment to locals. Be it bull fight, bullock cart race, cock fights or others, they provide employment, the promoters claim. Farmers provide extra attention to the animal and if the ban is enforced, there will be no incentive to hold on to the bulls or any other animal. Tamil Nadu has six native breeds, one of them called Alambadi, which is extinct, and others will also follow suit, they say. Moreover, Jallikattu and bullock cart racing maintain a healthy male-to-female ratio of native cattle. The case now rests.
